ANGELES CITY -- Maverick visual artist Arnel Garcia received over the weekend the Pupul ning Banua (Harvest of the Year) for the field of visual arts in the awarding ceremonies at the Museo Ning Angeles here.
The Pupul Ning Banua is an honor accorded to residents of the city who have brought honor and prestige to the city in their respective fields. The honorees are people who have distinguished themselves through awards and citations that further promote their crafts and ultimately the city that honed them.
The awards program is part of the city's commemoration of the National Arts Month, which ended last February 28.
Garcia was awarded with a trophy,a trophy that he also designed for the awards program. Garcia recently received a special citation at the 2014 National Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) held at the Le Pavilion in Pasay City.
Garcia is considered as among the fast rising artists in this city. Garcia was a delegate and Third Honorable Mention in the National Painting Competition of that NCCA Philippine Visual Arts Festival in 2012 in Rizal province. He was also a finalist in the Pampanga Arts Awards of 2012 and won Best Entry in the Unang Daloy First Central Luzon Visual Arts Festival hosted by the NCCAalo in 2012.
In 2013, Arnel won the Grand Prize (Group) in the National Painting Competition of the NCCA in Zamboanga del Sur. Also in the same year, he won the grand prize in the sculpture category of the AAP 66th Annual Art Competition in Pasay City.
Garcia is a finalist this year in the sculpture category of the GSIS 10th Annual Art Competition sponsored by the Art Association of the Philippines and the GSIS Museo Ng Sining. He was also given the distinction of Honorable Mention in the mixed media category in the same competition.
He is currently a Kapampangan Culture instructor at Holy Angel University. He has been, in many occasions, a lecturer of the native Kapampangan script Kulitan.